Bill Gates Net Worth

Bill Gates

Have you ever wondered what the net worth of Bill Gates is? As the co-founder of Microsoft, an author, businessman, investor, and philanthropist, the man has quite the resume.

As of May 2023, these efforts have amassed Bill Gates a net worth of $108 billion. This also makes him one of the wealthiest Americans of all time!

In this post, we’ll show you how the serial entrepreneur made his billions.

Early Life

Bill Gates was born in Seattle Washington, on October 28, 1955. His family was relatively affluent. His father was widely regarded as a prominent lawyer.

Bill’s Mother served for United Way of America. Being much smaller than the rest at the time, Bill Gates recalls being bullied throughout his childhood.

Regardless, his parents instilled in him the importance of staying competitive despite struggles or hurdles.

Bill Gates enrolled in Lakeside School, a private preparatory academy. This school allowed Gates to be exposed to computers at a young age.

Gates quickly grew passionate about new computer systems and began spending a lot of time programming using the BASIC language. By the age of 13, he had written his very first software program.

At 15, Gates started doing business with his friend Paul Allen. The two shared remarkable computing skills and developed a program that monitored traffic patterns in Seattle.

They sold the technology for $20,000.

Bill Gates enrolled at Harvard University shortly after graduating high school. Gates quickly questioned the purpose of college and dropped out, much to his parent’s dismay.

He and Allen continued to work on their dreams of entrepreneurship. They worked endlessly to code one of the first PC software.

Bill Gates And Microsoft

In 1975, Bill Gates and Paul Allen formed a partnership company called “Microsoft.” They soon partnered with MITS, the creator of the only microcomputer at the time.

Gates and Allen would write software for MITS computers. During the first five years, Gates would personally check every line of code the company shipped out. Many times, he would rewrite the lines himself if necessary.

Eventually, Gates and Allen had a fallout with the CEO of MITS. The two, still determined, were now on their own to create their vision.

Gate’s mothers’ connections allowed early-stage Microsoft to enter into projects with the upcoming tech giant at the time, IBM.

After meeting with the CEO of IBM, Microsoft was selected as the host software for the new IBM PC release.

Gates refused to sell the original source code to IBM and eventually licensed the software under Microsoft’s name. Because so many computer systems used the host software then, Microsoft saw explosive revenue growth of $2 million to $16 million in just a few years.

Microsoft launched its first retail version of Windows on November 20, 1985. This was the first crucial step in outlining Microsoft’s public markets plan.

With Windows becoming a widely adapted software, revenue streams became predictable, a counterargument against technology stocks at the time. Microsoft’s ability to eventually go public is one of the greatest reasons Bill Gates has the net worth he has today.

Microsoft Goes Public

bill gates net worth
Source: Goldman Sachs

Microsoft went public in 1986. Bill Gates owned a 45% stake ownership in Microsoft stock at the time. The opening stock price was $21.

After the trading day, the stock closed at $27.75, and Bill’s 45% stake was worth $350 million. Less than a year later, after the stock surged once more, his 45% exceeded him to billionaire status. Bill Gates was only 31 years old at this time.

Bill Gates has sold at least $40 billion in Microsoft stock and collected over $12 billion in dividends since the company’s IPO in 1986.

He used that money to create the holding company Cascade Investment which has continued to grow and includes investments in companies such as Canadian National Railway and AutoNation.

Gates is quite a philanthropist and donated a $3.3 billion payout he received in 2004 to his Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He still has a 1.3 percent stake in Microsoft.

Bill Gates Philanthropy

Gates studied a lot of the works of Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller. From this, he drew great inspiration to give back, especially considering his multi-billionaire status.

While most of his philanthropic motives were in the Bill and Melinda Gates Fund, he also founded and invested in many social development projects.

Bill Gates was also known for assisting with vaccine developments against the novel coronavirus at the break of the pandemic in 2020.

Gates has also taken a great interest in combating climate change. In an open letter he wrote in 2015, he addressed his fears that short-term results were trumping ethical and ecological responsibilities.

Bill Gates has invested nearly $1 billion in clean energy startups and has actively partaken in developing these businesses.

Bill Gates Net Worth 2023

As of May 2023, Bill Gates has a net worth of $108 billion. His net worth is primarily made up of stock ownership in Microsoft.

Due to most of his net worth being tied up in Microsft stock, his net worth constantly changes depending on the stock’s performance.

Gates has also made substantial money from real estate, IPO stock sales, his investment firm, and many other areas.

One of Gates’ most famous real estate flips includes his largest estate in Washington. Gates originally paid $2 million for the property and $63 million for fixing the house.

This estate is now worth approximately $150 million today.

Key Takeaways

Create the Future

While we might not be master programmers like Bill Gates, we all possess the capability to project future trends.

Whether that be in a day, in a year, or in a decade, we all have ideas of what the future might look like.

By focusing on creating our projections and visions of the future, we can potentially make the world a better place and make our lives exponentially better.

Own the Means of Production

Whether through stocks, real estate, bonds, or any other asset class, the wealthiest people in America always own more assets than liabilities.

Rather than creating more liabilities in our lives, we should focus on buying assets so that they appreciate over time, alongside our net worths.

Passion Will Lead the Way

Be passionate about whatever you spend your time on. A mind is a powerful tool, use a positive, passionate perspective to lead you to victory.